You won't see another one like that

I got the feeling on Saturday night at the pep rally

November 25, 2014

by

Jeremy from Schofield, WI

Vic, you said 100 yards rushing by Lacy would mean a win for the Packers. Of course, Lacy didn’t rush for 100 yards and we won, but the Bears rushed for 235 yards and still lost. So rushing more than the other team doesn’t win games, eh?

What you saw yesterday was an anomaly. You can watch football for the next 10 years and not see another game in which a team was outrushed 235 to 56 and won the game, so I would advise against using yesterday’s game as a formula for victory. You saw something rare. You saw one man tilt the field so dramatically the other facets of the game were rendered meaningless. What happens when Aaron Rodgers doesn’t do that? It was a wonderful win. It was a rare performance by a rare quarterback and I’ll forever remember it. I also said in “Final Thoughts” this is Rodgers’ team, Rodgers’ stage, Rodgers game and he’s got to be “The Man.” Yesterday, the Packers were Rodgers’ team, it was his stage, it was his game and he was “The Man.”

Mike from Jacksonville, FL

Well, Vic, the Packers are up to their old tricks again. A one-dimensional offense and a questionable defense. Will that ever change?

They’ll get the running game going. Will they stop the run? That’s the one that concerns me.

Jacob from St. Joseph, MI

If the defense can recognize and discuss its shortcomings immediately after a game, when does implementing their approach to being better actually manifest itself on the field?

Recognize, implement, manifest; Jacob, it’s a game, not science. The circumstances change week to week. You wake up with a head cold, you don’t play as well. It can be that simple. The Bears have a nice-looking offensive line. The left tackle, Jermon Bushrod, was dominant yesterday. I think that’s what you’re forgetting. The other team has players and coaches, too, and their players and coaches are also some of the finest in professional football. The balance of talent in the NFL is represented by the fact 11 teams are 2-2 and there are only two teams, Arizona and Cincinnati, that are undefeated. You don’t solve anything from week to week. All you can do is prepare to play the best football you can play, and then you quickly move on and do it again. It’s called parity and the league does everything it can to promote it. To beat it, you need “The Man.” He’s the wild card. The Packers have “The Man.”

Christopher from Dillard, GA

What solution, if any, do you see for our inability to pressure the quarterback and stop the run?

Keep trying. That’s all you can do. It’s not scheme. At the start of the second half, the Packers were in a four-man front and the Bears threw a screen pass to Matt Forte that gained 25 yards. Then the Packers used three down linemen and Forte ran for 19. You do this, they do that. You do that, they do this. The Packers need to find what they do best and keep doing it.

Jon from Bath, England

So the inbox swings from picking first in next year’s draft to winning the Super Bowl. I’m guessing the Packers are somewhere in between.

As I was writing my stories after the game, I could hear a muffled combination of arguing and giggling coming from inside my laptop.

Zack from Boca Raton, FL

That play where Rodgers wiggles out of the pass rush and flicks a perfect ball deep to Davante Adams in the end zone trailed by three defenders was the best play I’ve seen Rodgers make. What was the best play you’ve ever seen called back by penalty?

It was Rocket Ismail’s 92-yard punt return for an apparent touchdown with 43 seconds left in the 1991 Orange Bowl between Notre Dame and Colorado. He had to take it back for Notre Dame to win the game, and he took it back, but some Napoleon-complex official decided he was more important than the moment, and he called a ridiculous, behind-the-play clipping penalty that nullified what would’ve been one of the greatest moments in college football history.

Robert from Coupeville, WA

How could we pass like that against a very good Chicago defense and do nothing against a nobody secondary in Detroit?

“This was about execution and efficiency today, and we did a pretty good job of that.” Those are Aaron Rodgers’ words following yesterday’s game. Applying them to the Lions game, I guess the Packers lacked execution and efficiency.

Simon from Mountain View, CA

No punts? You must’ve hated that game, Vic.

For those of you who aren’t old enough to have seen the AFL play, you saw it yesterday. That was AFL-style football. The AFL had the right idea. The NFL is confirming it.

Hannes from Natternbach, Austria

After the offense was the problem last week, it’s the defense again. I didn’t think they were that bad. Sure, they had problems against the run, but they stood strong in the defining moments, including that goal-line play to end the first half and a bunch of turnovers.

Allowing 496 yards is going to push the Packers defense even lower in the rankings, but I think it has to be acknowledged they held the Bears to 17 points, despite being on the field for more than 36 minutes.

Keith from Columbia, SC

I’m relaxed. Pass the ball and stop the pass? I wonder if this will be our identity.

Racehorse football will likely be the Packers’ identity on offense this year. The defense will likely decide the team’s overall identity.

Daniel from Cary, IL

Vic, the Saints are now 1-3, despite having spent tons of cash and having backloaded contracts to try and win now. What happens when a team puts everything into one year and loses?

It’s usually powerless to do anything but try to do it again. The cap demands it be that way because a cut and gut would result in too much dead money. If the second attempt produces a similar result, then it’s time to cut and gut.

Phil from Chicago, IL

Vic, what a perfect Packers weekend this was. The pep rally at Will's Northwoods, and then the team finally showing us what it can be when it’s firing on all cylinders. I can’t wait for Thursday night. My question is did you finally get that rivalry feeling driving down Lake Shore Drive to the game this time?

No, I got the feeling at the pep rally. Will’s is in the Wrigleyville area of Chicago, if my sense of direction as we drove there was correct. The neighborhood took me back to my days covering baseball, and that touched something in me. You never know what it’s going to be. The pep rally is what did it for me. Not only was there a large Packers contingent at the pep rally – the fans were fantastic – but a car pulled up and out stepped Gale Sayers. That’s when I got the feeling. I had a great weekend. If you were a Packers fan in Chicago on Saturday and you weren’t at the Packers Everywhere pep rally, you were in the wrong place.

Richard from Madison, WI

Yes, I’m a Packers fan, but I think it’s just nuts the Bears lost a timeout when Trestman threw the red hanky on an automatically reviewed play. This seems like a remarkably stupid rule. What’s the point of it?

The point of it is to keep coaches from stopping the action illegally, as John Harbaugh did in a playoff game when his defense was getting gashed and needed a rest. The flow and momentum of a game is too critical to the outcome for a coach to be allowed to stop the action with a “my bad” challenge flag.

Dusty from Ashland, WI

Vic, this was a good win and great performance from the Packers offense, however, I’m a little concerned about the time of possession, as you mentioned this also. Can the defense hold up over the course of the whole season being on the field 35 to 40 minutes a game?

I don’t believe any defense can overcome that kind of TOP imbalance. I like the idea of the Packers offense playing fast, but it needs to stir in the running game so it might control the flow of the game.

Jeremy from Atlanta, GA

Who needs a running game when Rodgers is breathing fire like that? That was the Rodgers of 2011 that showed up in Chicago.

What happens if he’s not breathing fire like that?

Ryan from Nixa, MO

It appeared to me, after watching the game against Chicago, the Packers are losing trust in Lacy. Multiple times they were short-and-goal and didn’t even attempt to run, except at the end when the game was pretty much wrapped up. What is your take on the situation with Lacy going forward?

Obviously, the Packers had an attack-style game plan that featured the pass. I don’t agree the Packers have lost trust in Lacy. James Starks didn’t get a carry. That stuns me.

Ric from Longmont, CO

The best defense is a good offense, right? Forcing the Bears to catch up invited the pass and took some pressure off our run defense.

It did something to Jay Cutler, for sure. He began forcing passes into tight spots, which is how Clay Matthews made his interception off a deflection.